Front-wheel assembly for graders



June 9, 192.5.

F. E. ARNDT FRONT WHEEL ASSEMBLY FOR GRADERS Filed Aug. 16, 1924 2Sheets-Sheet l F. E. ARNDT June 9, 1925.

FRONT-WHEEL ASSEMBLY FOR GRADERS sagging. 16, 1924 2 sheets-sheet 2 l Il Patented June 9, 192.5.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN E; ARNDT, OF GALION, OHIO, AssIGNOn rro THE GALION IRON WORKS aMFG. OO., OE GALION, OHIO, A CORPORATION or OHIO.

FRONT-WHEEL ASSEMBLY GRADERS.

Application filed August 16, 1924. Serial No. 732,540.

T all 'who/mI t may concern.:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN E. ARNDT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Galion, in the county of Crawford and Sta-te of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Front-Wheel Assembliesfor Graders, of which. the following is a specification.

This invention relates to graders and t0 Scrapers, and particularly tothat type of grader or scraper wherein what are known as leaning wheelsare used, the general object of the invention being to provide a leaningwheel grader Or scraper wherein the angle which may be given to thewheels, or

the lateral tiltI may be adjusted so as to permit the grader to beleaned against the side load of earth, thus counteracting any tendencyto side slip or skid and eliminating side draft.4

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction for thispurpose in which the forward wheels are mounted upon adjustablespindles, and provide very simple power operated means where-hy these vspindles maybe-adjusted to cause the Wheels to be brought into a.vertical position or to be canted any required amount.' y

A still further object is ,to provide means for operating these wheelsfrom the operators station and to improve the details of constructionand arrangement of parts so as to secure a. very rigid structure whichat the same time will provide for all necessary adjustments of thescraper and of the blades in order to accomplish the work for whichscrapers or graders of this character are designed. A Another object isto provide a structure of this character with powerful but easilyOperated means for tilting or leaning the wheels and.holding themrigidlv in their adjusted positions.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description;

My invention is illustrated in panying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a.fragmentaryV side elevation of the forward end of a. leaning wheelgrader, the axle and allied parts being in section;

Figure 2is an elevation partly in section of the forward axle and alliedparts;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of parts shown in Figure 2;

the. accom- Of the wheels in other words,'

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the bars l0, the links 41 and.worm 30 showing the yoke 38 in eleva-tion;

Figure 5 is an elevation of shaft Q9 with the worm shown and fixed nutin section;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic elevation showing the front axle with Wheelscanted.

In these drawings, I have illustrated only the forward portion of agrader constructed in accordance with my invention, and it. will beunderstood that the rear end of the grader is also equipped withtiltable wheels and, as a matter of fact, with wheels which are not onlytiltable but extensible, as illus trated in my pending applicationSerial #733,406 filed on the 21st day of August, 1924. The grader isalso equipped with a forwardly extending tongue which is operated by atongue swinging mechanism mounted upon the grader and extending rearwardto the'operators station and with a blade or mold board mounted upon acircle in the usual manner so that the mold board may be shifted at ,thewill of the operator at the operators station into any desired so thatthe mold board may be shifted laterally to a greater or less extent.Inasmuch as these features form no part of my present invention, I havenot. illustrated them but merely state them so that it may be understood to what character of grader this invention is particularlyapplied.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates two spaced axle bars, theseaxle bars being `spaced from each other by spacing sleeves,

as will be later stated, and at the ends these Vaxle bars carry betweenthem the wheel control knuckles, designated generally 11, and each wheelcontrol knuckle has an upwardly extending arm 12 and a laterallyextending stub shaft 13 upon which the wheels 14 are mounted. Riveted,bolted or Otherwise attached to the outer faces of the axle bars 10 arethe angle iron arc-hes 15 which 'are riveted to these axle bars by meansof the rivets 16 which pass through spacing sleeves 17 disposed betweenthe bars. The lower ends of these arches 15 carry in them eye-bolts 18.Mounted between the upper horizontal portions of the arches 15 is acasting 1 9 which forms the base of a hollow king pin 20, the upper endof this king pin being formed to receive upon it al cap 21 or king pincollar held in inclination to the line of draft, and furtherplace by setscrews 22 which engage with the hollowking pin at its upper en Passingthrough the hollow kin pin is a shaft 23, the upper end of whic has auniversal 'oint connection with a shaft section 24. ounted upon thelower end of this shaft 23 is a beveled gear wheel 25. Mounted upon theaxle bars adacent the middle thereof is a bearing bracket 26,'the lowerend of which extends down between the bars and acts as spacers therefor,there being rivets 27 passing through the base of this bracket 26 andthrough the axle bars. The upper end of this bearing bracket is formedwith a bearing 28,. and mounted in this bearing is a preferablyhexagonal worm shaft 29, one end of which carries a worm 30 Y mounted ina fixed and this worm being nut, as lwill be later described. The shaft29 fits into a beveled gear wheel 31 which engages with the beveled gearwheel 25. The beveled gear wheel 31 is held in a fixed osition betweenthe bearing 28 and a colar 32. The shaft 29, as before remarked, ishexagonal in form and the bore in the wheel 31 is also hexagonal in formso that the shaft has rotative movement with the wheel 31 and in thebearinv 28, which supports the shaft. The shaft 1s also supported by theworm 30, which revolves in a fixed nut and thus constitutes a bearingfor the shaft. l

The worm, as previously stated, is mounted in a fixed nut 34 which ismounted upon a standard or pedestal 35 having Va base 36 which isdisposed between the axle bars and constitutes a spacing member thereforand through which rivets pass holding the base of the fixed nut inplace. The fixed nut is internally screw-threaded to engage the worm 30,this worm 30 having aj centrally extending bore which is hexagonal incross section to slide upon the shaft 29. One end of this worm 1s formedwith a circumferential groove or recess 37 to receive the worm collar 38which is formed in two half sections, each section being formed with asupporting pedestal and with .a base portion. The two sections are heldtogether by bolts 39, the depending angularly bent base 40 beingdisposed between and having slidin movement between the axle bars 10. Itwill is rotated in one direction or the other, the

worm 30 will operate through the fixed nut 34 and-this will shift theworm in one direction or the other and, of course, shift the worm collar38.

Attached to the upwardly extending arm 12 of one of the knuckles 11 is alink 41, lthis link being operatively pivoted to the upper end of thearm 12 and at its inner end being, operatively pivoted upon trunnions42, as illustrated in Figure 4. There are two of these links 41 andholding these be obvious now that as the shaft 2)v links in place uponthe hubs or trunnions 42 are the locking clips 44 which are mounted upona bolt 45 and which are formed with approximately semi-circular openingsadapte to enga e in the recess 46 formed between the hea and the body ofthe t'runnion. It will be obvious, therefore, that as the shaft 29 isrotated, the fixed nut will cause a longitudinal movement of the worm,which in turn will carry along with it the collar 38 and,'therefore,through the 'link 41 will move the knuckle 1l. The movement' of oneknuckle 11 is transmitted to the other. knuckle by means lof atransversely extendink link 47, the opposite ends of which arc angularlybent and are, of course, pivotally connected to the two knuckles.

As illustrated in Figure 3, there are two links 41 and two links 47 andthe upper end of the arm 12. These links and the arm 12 are connectedtogether by a transversely extending bolt 48 having nuts 49 at itsends.` Also disposed between the bars 10 is a tongue bracesupport base50 from which extends downwardly the tongue brace support 51. As shownin Figure 1, the tubular king pin 20 extends upward within a tubularcasting 52, through which passes the U-shaped bolt 53 and the upper endof this casting supports the upwardly and laterally extending member 54which rests upon the upper flat end of the member 52 and rotatesthere-around. The arms of this'member 54 are riveted or otherwiseconnected to the longitudinal beams 55 which form the supporting frameof the scra er. Mounted upon. this frame is a brac et 5G, through whichpasses an outer tubular shaft 57 and an inner shaft 58, this inner shaftbeing operatively connected to the tongue adjusting mechanism-- in amanner which is not necessary -to state, inasmuch as this forms no partof my present invention. The outer shaft carries upon it the gear wheel59 which engages with a gear wheel 60 mounted upon the upper end of theshaft section 24. Thus it will be seen' that as this tubular shaft 57 isoperated b v means of the hand wheel (il, the shaft 29 will be operatedto shift the worm 30 longitudinally u-pon the shaft 29 and thereby tifltthe wheels of the machine in one` direction or the other.

It will be understood that -with a construction of this character, thedraft bars 62 to whichthe scraper is directly con- .nected areoperatively connected to the sleeve 54 and that the draft bars have anupward swinging movement and a lateral swinging movement. These draftbars support the usual circle upon which the scraper blade is mountedfor adjustment around the circle so that the scraper blade may bedisposed at any desired angle tothe line of draft. The particular objectof providing the scraper with the leaning wheels is to lean the weighttoward and balance the weight of the grader against the side load ofearth so as to obviate lany tendency-to slde slip and furthermore causethe grader to travel on a' straight course without side draft where thehorses or tractor are disposed to one side of thepath of the grader.

Furthermore, this construction permits the c mold board of the scraperto be set at a sharp angle even in heavy cuts so that it scours, that isthe material slides freely along the mold board with the least possiblefriction.

By the provision of the leaning wheels, it is possible for the scraperto operate very close to the curbing of a road or streetl without thewheels scraping against the curbing. Of course, it is understood thatwhere ythe front wheels are leaning'wheels, the rear wheels must beleaning wheels, and while I do not wish to be limited to any particularstyle of leaning wheel when used in connection with a vehicle having theleaning forward wheels constructed inl accordance with this presentapplication, vet preferably the scraper will be equipped with theleaning wheels shown in application Serial #733,406 before referred to,and with forward leaning wheels constructed in accordance with thepresent application.

I do not wish to be limited to the details of construction orarrangement of parts, as these might 'be changed in many respectswithout departing from the spiritpf the invention as dened in theappended claims.

I 'claim zl. In a vehicle of the character described., au axle, wheelknuckles pivotally mounted upon the ends of the axle for tiltingmovement in a vertical plane, wheels mounted thereon, a sleeveoperatively supportedupon the axle, a shaft passing downward throughsaid sleeve. a superstructure. said shaft passing through thepivotalcenter of the superstructure and said sleeve, manually operable means.for rotating theshaft, a member mounted upon the axle for movementlongitudinally thereof and transverse to the draft line of the vehicleand operatively connected to the knuckles to cause their simultaneousoscillation in the same direction, and means operatively connecting saidshaft to said member to shift the member-upon an oscillation of theshaft. l

2. In a vehicle having leaning wheels, an axle, wheel knuckles pivotallymounted upon the ends of the axle for tilting movement in a verticalplane, a connection between the knuckles for simultaneous movement, atransversely disposed shaft, a worm mounted thereon for sliding movementon the shaft and rotatable movement with the shaft, a fixed nut throughwhich the worm passes and whereby upon a rotative movement of the shaftand worm the Worm will travel on the shaft, a member operativelyconnected to the worm and moving therewith and operatively connected toone of said knuckles to tilt it in a vertical plane as the worm is movedlongitudinally lon the shaft, and manually operable means for operatingthe worm.

3. In a leaning wheel grader of the character described` a forward axle,wheel knuckles pivotally mounted upon the ends of the axle for tiltingmovement in a vertical plane, a link connecting the knuckles forsimultaneous movement, a transversely disposed shaft operatively mountedupon the axle, a worm mounted on the shaft for sliding movement alongthe shaft androtative movement with the shaft, a fixed nut mounted uponthe axle with which said worm engages, a member operatively mounted uponthe worm and moving therewith and operatively connected to one of saidknuckles, and manually operable means for rotating said shaft.

4. In a leaning wheel grader, a forwardv axle composed of two parallelbars spaced from each other, knuckles pivoted between said bars at theends thereof and having wheel stubs and upwardly extending arms,

a transversely extending link connecting said arms, a shaft disposedabove the axle, bearings for the shaft having portions thereof extendingbetween the bars of the axle and spacing the same and connected thereto,a worm sleeve mounted upon the axle for longitudinal sliding movementthereon and rotative movement therewith, a fixed nut mounted upon theaxle, a portion thereof extendingl downward between the bars of the axleand spacing the same and connected thereto, a member having Aswiveledengagement with the extremity of the worm and moving therewith, a linkconnecting said member with one of said knuckles, and manually operablemeans for rotating said shaft.

5. In a leaning wheel grader, a forward axle composed of two parallelbars spaced from each other, knuckles pivoted between said bars at. theends thereof and having wheel stubs and upwardly extending arms, atransversely extending link connecting said arms, a shaft disposed abovethe axle, bearings for the shaft `having portions thereof extendingbetween the bars of the axle and spacing the same and connected thereto,a worm sleeve mounted Aupon the axle for vlong gitudinal slidingmovement thereon and rotative movement therewith,

a fixed nut mounted upon the axle, a portion thereofextending downwardbetween the bars of the axle and spacing the same and connected thereto,a member having swiveled engagement with the extremityof the worm andmoving therewith, a lilik tically upward therefrom, a tubular king'.

pin supported on said arched'bars and extending vertically L upwardtherefrom, a

sleeve loosely surrounding .the king pin and.

with which the forward endt of the Grader Aframe and forward ends of thedraft bars are adapted .to be connected, a shaft mounted lupon -the axleand extending parallel thereto, a worm mounted upon the shaftA androtating therewith, a member controlled by said worm and havingoperative connection withV one of said knuckles, means forrotating theshaft including a shaftpassing vertically downward througlrgthe kingpin, coacting beveled gear wheels mounted upon Said shafts, the upperend of the vertical shaft having a universal joint, and an op eratingshaft section connected to said uni.- versal joint.

7. In a leaning wheel gradcr,'a forward axle composed of two `spacedbars, wheel knucklespivoted between saidvbars and having upwardlyextending arms, a link connecting said arms, a shaft mounted upon theaxle, a worm carried by the shaft, a member controlled by said worm andoperatively connected to one of said wheel members,

' said member having a portion extending downward between said bars andguided thereby and being thus held from rotary movement, a connectionbetween said member and one of said knuckles, and manually operable.means for rotating said shaft.

8. In a leaning wheel grader, a forward axle comprising two spaced bars,knuckles pivoted between said bars andjhaving wheel stubs and upwardlyextending arms, a connecting link between said arms, a pair of upwardlyarched bars connected to the axle, a tubular king pin mounted vupon saidarched bars and extending vertically upward therefrom, a bushing looselysurrounding said king pin and adapted to be con- 'v 9. In a leaning Ature.

nected to the frame of the grader, to the draftA bars. and to thetonguethereof, a shaft disposed above the axle and extending parallelthereto, a bearing member for one end of the shaft having a basedisposed between and spacing the axle bars, a worm sleeve slidable uponbut rotating with the axle, a fixed nut through which the worm sleevepasses and having a. base extending ed attheir other, ends to one ofsaid arms,

and manually operablemeans for'rotating the shaft including a shaftsection extending downward through said tubular king pin and at itsupper end having means whereby it may be connected to operating devices.

wheel grader, an axle, wheel knuckles pivotally mounted upon the ends ofthe axle for tilting movementin a vertical plane, wheels carriedthereon, an arch mounted upon the axle, a sleeve carried upon the arch,a superstructure restinv'v upon the upper end of the sleevea shaftlpassing downward through said superstructure and through the sleeve,draft bars operatively connected to the sleeve, the sleeve beingoscillatable around the axis of the shaft, manually operable means foroscillating the shaft, and means operated by the shaft for shifting theknuckles simultaneously in either direction.

10. In a leaning wheel grader, an axle, knuckles'operatively pivotedupon the extremity of thev axle, an arched bar mounted upon the axleandextending vertically upward therefrom, a tubular king pin supported onthe arch'ed b'ar and extending vertically upward therefrom,- a sleeveloosely surroundin the king pin and with which and means operativelyconnecting the lower end gf said shaft to the knuckles/and causingsimultaneous movement .of the# knuckles in one direction orrthe other asthe shaft is oscillated.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signa- FRANKLIN E.' ARNDT.

